


Watching Over

by Elinie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Prompt Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28879371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elinie/pseuds/Elinie
Summary: Post-War Severus suffers from Narcolepsy. Hermione, unbeknownst to him, finds him asleep somewhere one day and puts a tracking spell on him so she can make sure nothing happens to him. Seashores, figs, cursing in dead languages, and love as a result :)
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 15
Kudos: 64
Collections: Hearts and Cauldrons Discord Members





	Watching Over

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mersheeple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mersheeple/gifts), [MizzAdamz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizzAdamz/gifts), [NaomiJameston](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaomiJameston/gifts).



It all started right after the War when the world was still trembling in the aftershock of its cruel experience and was trying to find a new purpose in life. Snape was far from being sentimental. He was glad that he managed to survive and escaped practically intact, and he was almost happy to start his new life from the scratch. Snape decided to leave the wizarding community and go somewhere warm, perhaps to Amalfi, or Rhodes, or even Java. 

His desire to escape finally led him to some small, almost desert island near Australian shores. Snape chose a distant hill with a white fenced house, bought himself an old green truck and a dog, thus starting his new life from a zero point. 

He was busy. Slowly and methodically he taught himself how to enjoy his life; he finally could allow himself to do so. Everything seemed almost perfect to him, if not for one small disadvantage: post-war life didn't leave Severus absolutely intact, it gifted him with Narcoleptic syndrome, which meant sudden sleep attacks especially during the daytime, insomnia at night, and constant weariness. Severus decided to address his illness later and simply turned his attentions to enjoying simple life pleasures, such as: eating figs or apricots, swimming under the early morning sunrise, or watching stars at night. 

Snape often found himself awake in most unexpected places: in local villages, in distant caves, in the middle of the forest, or simply, by the seashore. Seashores were his favorite places in the world. The calmness of waves, the gentle lapping of water, the song of the wind... He loved the water. He always considered it his element. 

What he didn't know, though, was the fact that one certain witch also decided to leave her Wizarding life and relocated to Australia. 

Hermione Granger never managed to become Hermione Weasley. She never managed to become the new Minister Of Magic. She decided to leave her life behind and just left for Australia instead. Hermione didn't like to remember her struggles of trying to restore her parents' memories or her endless attempts to forget the past. She started her life from the blank page. 

Hermione bought herself a small cottage on a distant island, she found a job in a local shelter for sea creatures, both magical and non-magical, and started to learn how to enjoy her life with its simple wonders. 

Hermione developed a habit of early morning runnings along the shore. She greeted the day by doing yoga exercises on the sand, after that she usually squeezed fresh oranges and drank her juice while watching the sun rising and the stars fading into the night. And she watched him running almost the same route as she. 

Of course, it was no wonder to Hermione that Severus Snape survived the War and left Britain in search of a better life. The fact that he found his better place here, on this distant island, was a question of no doubt. Hermione knew that Severus lived on the hill, that he worked as some local version of a doctor, a pharmacist, and a potioneer combined in one. Native people of this place believed in magic and saw small miracles everywhere, so they took the magical community for granted. Neither she nor Severus protested. 

Snape for his part acknowledged her presence with a simple nod of his head or occasional wave of his hand or ripe figs he sometimes left for her on a bright yellow towel. Hermione brought him rare books written in the ancient language of Tasmanian tribes. She knew he loved a bit of challenge in his life. 

Not so long after that, usually, when Hermione strolled down the shore after her working day, she started to notice that Severus developed a habit of taking naps in most unusual places: under the palm tree, near some strangely looking succulent plants or surrounded by local variation of fungi. It looked as if he was working on something and suddenly fell asleep in the process. Hermione pondered over that question for a few days, until she found the information in a medicinal encyclopedia in a village library. 

Hermione understood that Severus had been suffering from Narcolepsy, and that very disease gave him sudden sleep attacks, insomnia, and weariness. He was overstressed and bone-tired from his past life, no wonder that he suffered so much now. Hermione speculated that he might even not notice those attacks, his body just switched his mind off, leaving Severus unaware. She also found out that the cure for his affliction was simple: Severus had to learn to accept calmness and to get rid of the stress. Having been watching him for some time now, Hermione understood that he was on his way to recovery, but she left a mild tracking charm on him, just in case. 

So, he lived his life, and she was watching him and keeping her constant vigilance. Weren't these worlds sounding slightly funny to her now? 

Two months later she found him asleep near some dangerously poisonous fungi and kept him off danger. Three weeks ago Severus took a nap on the very edge of the cliff. And yesterday Hermione just banged at his door and left her travel bag in his hall, claiming that she was no guardian angel for him, and he either accepted her offer for dinner with him tonight, or she was going to leave him to his own devices.

Three days after that, after some romantic night of lovemaking on the shore, Severus took her into his arms without being afraid of his next waking destination.

He confessed to himself that he liked her bravery and her almost impossible audacity. And the simple fact that she cared for him.

Severus started to learn how to love another person and be loved in return. He watched her building sandcastles on the shore or charming pebbles into smiling faces. He listened to her cursing in an ancient Tasmanian topolect when her research project apparently went wrong and something unexpected exploded in her potion-making corner taking half of the roof along the way. Instead of reprimanding her, Severus just laughed and answered her in the same Tasmanian language. He taught her how to cook the most exotic dishes and how to distinguish poisonous plants from edible ones. Ah, well, he rushed across the village with his umbrella when the tropical storm was coming, and magical shields simply didn't hold against such a force of nature. He met her halfway and took her under his ancient umbrella, and kissed her, and made her racing home together with him. And he always left her figs on the same yellow towel.

With a guardian angel like that Severus accepted his life and left all his worries behind.

Hermione noticed that his illness dissipated some time ago, but following him in their, for now, habitual morning run, she still kept monitoring her tracking charm and watching over him. Just in case.

The End.


End file.
